15 times Fox News, its hosts, and contributors publicly apologized in 2018

Fox Business apologized for not countering Rep. Louie Gohmert's claims that George Soros "stole" from other Jewish people.

Fox apologized after GOP Congressman Louie Gohmert made inaccurate, anti-Semitic attacks on financier George Soros in an appearance on Fox Business.

“You mention Orwell, it also reminds me of another George — George Soros,” said Gohmert.

“George Soros is supposed to be Jewish, but you wouldn’t know it from the damage he’s inflicted on Israel and the fact that he turned on fellow Jews and helped take the property that they own," he added.

As many fact-checking sites have noted, Soros was born in Hungary in 1930 and was only 14 when World War II ended. There is no evidence he "turned on" other Jews or stole property.

While Fox Business host Stuart Varney quickly changed the subject without challenging Gohmert's assertions, he apologized for and disavowed Gohmert's remarks in the following hour of his show.

Source: The Daily Beast

The network issued an apology after a guest compared former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to herpes.

Anna Paulina, Turning Point USA's Director of Spanish Engagement, joked "Hillary won't go away, she's like herpes" during a Thanksgiving Day segment discussing whether Congress should investigate Clinton further.

"OK, that is news that we are breaking here. Not appropriate," host Rick Leventhal said looking visibly stunned before cutting off Paulina's appearance.

Both Fox News and Paulina later apologized to viewers and Clinton for her remarks.

"We are all Americans, and that is the focus and we want to reiterate that we do not condone the language that Anna Paulina just displayed here, and we apologize to Secretary Clinton for that," Fox anchor Arthel Neville later said. “Fox News does not condone her sentiment."

"Yesterday on Fox I was placed on the wrong segment & in the confusion made a brash and unprofessional joke. To Fox and those watching, I am deeply sorry," said Paulina.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

Fox apologized for musician Kid Rock calling Joy Behar "that bitch" during a segment aired on "Fox and Friends."

"People need to calm down, get a little less politically correct," Kid Rock said.

"And, I would say, you know, love everybody, except — I'd say screw that Joy Behar bitch ... I mean lady. Lady," he said of "The View" host.

"Fox & Friends" host Steve Doocy was quick to shut down Kid Rock's remarks. "You cannot say that," Doocy said.

"You apologize for that language, right?" Doocy asked him. "I did apologize for the language, not the sentiment," Kid Rock replied. "We don't feel that way. We apologize for both," Doocy added.

"You come for one of us, you came for all of us, Kid Rock." Behar said in response. "All I can say is, this bitch — and these bitches — will be happy to have you on the show and have a beer."

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

Fox apologized after incorrectly presenting a photo of Philadelphia Eagles players praying before a game as them kneeling during the national anthem.

After Fox presented the photo as the players kneeling during a segment on the Eagles not attending the White House following their 2018 Super Bowl win, multiple players including tight end Zach Ertz were quick to call on Fox to apologize.

"This can’t be serious. … Praying before games with my teammates, well before the anthem, is being used for your propaganda?! Just sad," Ertz tweeted. "I feel like you guys should have to be better than this.”

“During our report about President Trump canceling the Philadelphia Eagles’ trip to the White House to celebrate their Super Bowl win, we showed unrelated footage of players kneeling in prayer,” Fox executive producer Chris Wallace explained in a statement.

“To clarify, no members of the team knelt in protest during the national anthem through the regular or postseason last year. We apologize for the error,” he added.

Source: Washington Post

Fox apologized for accidentally using a photo of Sen. Kamala Harris while reporting a segment about a homicide suspect.

Fox mistakenly aired two photos of California Sen. Kamala Harris during a segment about a man suspected of murdering a University of Utah student.

“Now in an earlier version of this story, we showed you the wrong video," Fox reporter Jillian Mele later said.

"We showed you pictures of Sen. Kamala Harris instead of Melvin Rowland’s mugshot. We apologize for that error.”

Source: The Hill

Former "Fox & Friends" host Abby Huntsman, now of "The View," apologized for referring to President Donald Trump and North Korean leaders as "two dictators" in a verbal slip-up.

“Regardless of what happens in that meeting between the two dictators, what we are seeing right now, this is history,” Hunstman said while interviewing former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci as part of Fox's coverage of Trump and Kim Jong-un's June summit in Singapore.

“As you know on live TV sometimes you don’t always say things perfectly,” Huntsman said after the internet went into a frenzy over her gaffe, which many thought was especially ironic considering Fox's usually positive coverage of Trump.

“I called both President Trump and Kim Jong-Un a dictator. I didn’t mean to say that, my mistake, I apologize for that.”

Source: Washington Post

Fox apologized for using a photo of Patti LaBelle in a tribute to late soul singer Aretha Franklin.

Fox mistakenly aired a graphic honoring singer Aretha Franklin that included a photo of a different artist, Patti LaBelle, presented as Franklin in the background. The photo comes from LaBelle's 2014 performance at the White House.

"Our intention was to honor the icon using a secondary image of her performing with Patti LaBelle in the full screen graphic, but the image of Ms. Franklin was obscured in that process, which we deeply regret," a Fox spokesperson said in a statement.

However, Fox's statement explaining the graphic mix-up was confusing considering Franklin and LaBelle did not appear together at that White House event. Fox did not respond to INSIDER's follow-up requests for clarification.

Source: INSIDER

Fox Business host Stuart Varney apologized after lashing out at Elon Musk's brother and Tesla board member, Kimball Musk.

Varney apologized for cutting off an interview with Kimbal Musk after Musk repeatedly dodged questions about Tesla's leadership and insisted on only talking about his corporate social responsibility initiative "Plant A Seed Day" 2019.

"You think my viewers want to learn about Plant a Seed Day?" Varney yelled, "They don't care!" before cutting off Musk. "OK. I'm wrapping it up," he said. "I'm sorry. It's over. I will not be used."

Varney apologized for his outburst in the next hour of the program.

Source: The Blaze

Fox host Melissa Francis apologized for a series of tweets claiming her country cub would not seat her because of her support for Trump.

“We are member of Siwanoy Bronxville but somehow, they can’t fit us in for dinner," Francis wrote in a tweet which has since been deleted. "Repeatedly. I’m sure it’s a coincidence and not something more. Right? #Never Trumpers #cnn #HillaryForever?”

In a previous tweet, Francis charged that the Siwanoy Country Club "shuns my family again."

"I want to apologize to Siwanoy management for what I am now convinced was a misunderstanding," Francis later wrote. "It was juvenile of me to take to Twitter — and I’m not just saying that because I’ve given my kids a get out of jail free card the next time they act like children."

Source: TIME

Fox suspended former Trump deputy campaign manager David Bossie for making a racially charged comment to a black guest.

Former Trump deputy campaign manager and Fox News contributor David Bossie told Joel Payne, a black Democratic strategist, he was "out of his cotton-picking mind" during a debate over racism.

“I have some relatives who picked cotton,” Payne replied, “and I’m not going to sit back and let you attack me on TV like that.”

Fox host Ed Henry quickly apologized on air. “I want to make clear that Fox News and this show, myself, we don’t agree with that particular phrase," he said. "It was obviously offensive.”

Bossie also issued an apology of his own on Twitter, and was suspended from Fox for two weeks, the Daily Beast reported.

Source: The Daily Beast

Laura Ingraham apologized after advertisers pulled out of sponsoring her show over her mockery of Parkland shooting survivor and gun reform advocate David Hogg.

One of the most high-profile media feuds of 2018 began when David Hogg, a survivor of the Parkland, Florida shooting and an advocate for gun reform told TMZ in an interview that he had been rejected by a number of California colleges, including UCLA.

The next day, Laura Ingraham, who hosts "Ingraham Angle" on Fox, tweeted out an article about Hogg's interview with the message "David Hogg Rejected by Four Colleges To Which He Applied and whines about it. (Dinged by UCLA with a 4.1 GPA…totally predictable given acceptance rates.)"

Ingraham faced a slew of backlash from across the Internet from what many perceived to be an inappropriate attack on a teenager, with Hogg and other Parkland survivors calling on Ingraham's advertisers to pull their sponsorships from her show.

After Nutrish and TripAdvisor announced they would no longer be advertising on "Ingraham Angle," Ingraham issued an apology on Twitter.

"Any student should be proud of a 4.2 GPA — incl. @DavidHog111," she wrote. "On reflection, in the spirit of Holy Week, I apologize for any upset or hurt my tweet caused him or any of the brave victims of Parkland."

She added: "For the record, I believe my show was the first to feature David immediately after that horrific shooting and even noted how 'poised' he was given the tragedy. As always, he’s welcome to return to the show anytime for a productive discussion."

Source: Business Insider

Fox retracted and apologized for a report claiming that California State Polytechnic University planned to cut enrollment of white students.

In a June interview with Cal Poly student Roberta Martin, host Rob Schmidtt incorrectly reported that Cal Poly "is working to diversify their campus by deliberately slashing the number of white students" and “moving towards a race-based admissions process” by limiting white students to only 40% of the student body.

A spokesman for Cal Poly thoroughly refuted the Fox report in a statement. "The university ... aims to create (in compliance with state Proposition 209) a campus community that reflects the demographics of the state it serves," the statement said.

"That said, the university has not, does not, and will not consider race or ethnicity in the admissions process (doing so is prohibited in California by Proposition 209),” it continued.

Schmidtt later apologized for the report and its factual inaccuracies on air a few days later.

Source: San Luis Obispo Tribune

Fox apologized after British singer Robbie Williams flashed a middle finger at the camera during a live performance at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Moscow.

"The 2018 FIFA World Cup opening ceremony was a newsworthy event produced by a third party and carried live on Fox," the network said in a statement.

"As it was broadcast live, we did not know what would happen during Robbie Williams’ performance and we apologize."

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

Fox host Brit Hume apologized for tweeting that "Democrats sure don't love America" on the 4th of July.

"I deleted an earlier tweet that said Democrats don’t love America," Hume later wrote.

"It was based on a Gallup poll that found only a minority of Dems now very proud of this country. A number of people said they think that’s not a fair conclusion from the poll. I agree and thus the deletion."

The Gallup poll Hume referenced showed that 32% of self-identified Democrats stated they were "extremely proud" to be American, a decrease of 11% from 2017.

Source: The Hill

Fox Business apologized to the family of late Sen. John McCain after a contributor made derogatory comments about his time as a prisoner of war in Vietnam.

"The fact is, John McCain, it worked on John," Fox military analyst Thomas McInerney said of enhanced interrogation torture techniques.

"That's why they call him 'Songbird John,'" he added, referring to McCain experiencing torture during his six years as a POW during the Vietnam War.

"Those methods can work and they're effective, as former Vice President [Dick] Cheney said," he added. "And if we have to use them to save a million American lives, we will do whatever we have to."

Host Charles Payne later apologized for not stepping in to push back on McInerney calling McCain "songbird John" on air, claiming he did not hear the comment at the time.

"This morning on a show I was hosting, a guest made a very false and derogatory remark about Senator John McCain," Payne later wrote on Twitter. "At the time, I had the control room in my ear telling me to wrap the segment, and did not hear the comment."

He added: "I regret I did not catch this remark, as it should have been challenged. As a proud military veteran and son of a Vietnam Vet these words neither reflect my or the network’s feelings about Senator McCain, or his remarkable service and sacrifice to this country.”

Source: CBS News